Ready for Some Controversy?

The Woe of Historical Fiction Writers

Photo by Marylou Fortier on Unsplash

If you want to write historical fiction, be prepared for controversy!

I often get into a discussion with folks who think that Queen Hatshepsut was the first female Pharaoh. I can't blame them because there is so much misinformation on the Internet.

What if I told you that Hatshepsut ruled some 1,500 years after the first known female Pharaoh (they were known as Kings in that time period)? That's right. A woman by the name of Meryt-Neith (or Merneith or something very similar) reigned as regent for approximately 18 years after the death of her husband in the First Dynasty, some 3100 BCE. I wrote about Meryt-Neith in my novel The Dagger of Isis , which is part of my First Dynasty trilogy.

But like in so much of Egyptian history, Egyptologists often have limited information from which to make definitive conclusions. So it is with an archaeological find made a few years ago in the Sinai desert. Carved into some rocks during a turquoise and copper mining operation some 5,000 years ago was the name of Neith-Hotep. Some Egyptologists say that Neith-Hotep was actually the first female Pharaoh, serving as a regent for her young son.

After years of research, visits to Egypt and working with Egyptologists for my novel, The First Pharaoh, I maintained that Neith-Hotep was the wife of King Narmer, the man who united Upper and Lower Egypt into one nation. I haven't seen conclusive evidence that she ruled as King after Narmer's death. However, I contend in The Dagger of Isis that Meryt-Neith ascended to the throne after the death of her husband, while her son was yet too young to rule.

So, who's right? People get very attached to their conclusions. As an author you have to do the research, of course, but ultimately you have to make decisions which may run counter to what many people believe in order to create an engaging narrative. Likewise, new evidence often emerges from the sands that time and wind buried and you may be dead wrong!

As for me, I'm always marveling at how those incredible people, whatever their names happened to be, forged a powerful civilization that lasted for some three thousand years!

I'll keep you posted with any new information that Egyptologists uncover. In the meantime you can check out my First Dynasty trilogy on Amazon. I always welcome comments, questions and discussions.